Monday, September 24, 2012

Yes, we are. Tomorrow night, Tuesday, we leave Ottawa at 11:25 on an Air Canada jet and touch down in Heathrow the next morning, Wednesday, at 11:10. Assuming all goes as planned, and there is no unscheduled swimming interlude involved. We will hope not.

In preparation for the visit – we will be in a rented apartment in London for a week – yesterday, I surfed the net for a list of theatrical productions in the West End. And came up with a list of 110 musicals, comedies, and dramas currently playing, or upcoming. An embarrassment, if you will, of theatrical riches. We have looked at any number of productions, but won't make any firm decision until "the day". We will likely pass on a play the first night. We expect to be tired from the overnight flight. For the record, I am not crazy about overnight flights. Hard to sleep, I have found, with my knees under my chin. The price one pays for flying Economy Class. So, Wednesday will be a short day, early to bed, so that the next 6 days can be full of sight-seeing and theatre.

One production we had hoped to take in is The Book Of Mormon, billed as a musical comedy. It's had great reviews in its New York run, and it is on the list for London. Unhappily, though, not until February of 2013. In the context of the current presidential race in the States, it would have been an interesting and entertaining show to see. Perhaps not as comic as Mitt Romney's stumbling run in the direction of the White House – described by GOP heavyweight Peggy Noonan as "a rolling calamity" – but it would have been worth seeing.

After a week of sight-seeing and theatre in London, we head off to Paddington Station and climb onto a train for the Cotswolds, and 4 days of hiking, combined with 4 nights of wining and dining. (That seems to be a constant in our travels.) After that we do 3 days and 3 nights of much the same in Oxford. And then back to Ottawa.

The last time I was in Paddington Station, I made a point of looking for the famous bear. And found a very large replica of the lad in a window display, decked out in a blue coat and yellow hat as I recall. There is also a bronze statue of Paddington at the station. I missed that last time, but we will make a point of seeing it this time.

One never knows what one might see in Paddington Station. On my last visit, there was a troupe of Yemeni dancers and musicians holding forth, in an effiort to entice us to visit the country. Still not on my preferred list, though. Things are a tad violent in that part of the world just now, or so I sometimes hear.

It's impossible, I would suggest, to contemplate a visit to London without revisiting, in memory, the very long list of superior crime-mystery films set partly or wholly in that city. There are, of course, websites devoted to the theme. So, herewith, in no particular order, a partial list of some of my favourites from the distant, and more recent, past.

Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow-Up, from 1966:

John Mackenzie's The Long Good Friday, from 1979-1980:

Charles Crichton's The Lavender Hill Mob, from 1951:

Richard Donner's The Omen, from 1976:

Basil Deardon's The League of Gentlemen, from 1960:

Sudney Furie's The Ipcress File, from 1965:

Woody Allen's Match Point, from 2005:

Alexander Mackendrick's The Ladykillers, from 1955:

Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, from 1998:

Robert Hamer's Kind Hearts and Coronets, from 1949:

Neil Jordan's The Crying Game, from 1992:

Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy, from 1972:

And, last, but certainly not least, from 1957,

Alfred Hitchcock's Witness For The Prosecution:

I invite the reader to add his/her own titles to the list.

I won't be doing my regular blog on October 8. As noted above, I will be in Oxford, walking, wining and dining. Ottawa mystery writer and Young-Adult novelist, Brenda Chapman, has graciously agreed to sub for me:

Rick Blechta writes on Tuesdays

Barbara Fradkin writes on alternate Wednesdays

Sybil Johnson writes on Alternate Wednesdays

John Corrigan writes on alternate Thursdays

Donis Casey writes on alternate Thursdays

Charlotte Hinger writes on alternate Fridays

Frankie Bailey writes on Alternate Fridays

Vicki Delany writes on the second weekend of every month

Mario Acevedo writes on the 4th Saturday of each month

Aline Templeton

Aline Templeton lives in Edinburgh in a house with a balcony overlooking the beautiful city skyline. Her series featuring DI Marjory Fleming is set in beautiful Galloway, in South-west Scotland. alinetempleton.co.uk

Marianne Wheelaghan

Marianne is from Edinburgh. She left home at seventeen. After a heap of travelling, which included living in Kiribati, the third most remote country in the world, she ended back in Edinburgh where she still lives very happily. Her crime mysteries feature DS Louisa Townsend, The Scottish Lady Detective, and are mostly set in the Pacific. Read more about Marianne and her books on her blog: www.mariannewheelaghan.co.uk and at @MWheelaghan

Rick Blechta

Rick has two passions in life, mysteries and music, and his thrillers contain liberal doses of both. He has two upcoming releases, Roses for a Diva, his sequel to The Fallen One, for Dundurn Press, and for Orca’s Rapid Reads series, The Boom Room, a second book featuring detectives Pratt & Ellis. You can learn more about what he’s up to at www.rickblechta.com. From the musical side, Rick leads a classic soul band in Toronto. Check out SOULidifiedband.com. And lastly, being a former line cook with an interest in all things culinary, he has a blog dedicated to food: A Man for All Seasonings.

Barbara Fradkin

Barbara Fradkin is a retired psychologist with a fascination for how we turn bad. Her dark short stories haunt the Ladies Killing Circle anthologies, but she is best known for her award-winning series featuring the quixotic, exasperating Ottawa Police Inspector Michael Green, published by Dundurn Press. The ninth book, The Whisper of Legends, was published in April 2013. Visit Barbara at barbarafradkin.com.

Sybil Johnson

Sybil Johnson’s love affair with reading began in kindergarten with “The Three Little Pigs.” Visits to the library introduced her to Encyclopedia Brown, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and a host of other characters. Fast forward to college where she continued reading while studying Computer Science. After a rewarding career in the computer industry, Sybil decided to try her hand at writing mysteries. Her short fiction has appeared in Mysterical-E and Spinetingler Magazine, among others. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in Southern California where she enjoys tole painting, studying ancient languages and spending time with friends and family. Find her at www.authorsybiljohnson.com.

John R Corrigan

John R. Corrigan is D.A. Keeley, author of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agent Peyton Cote series, which is set along the Maine-Canada border. Bitter Crossing (summer 2014) will be the first of at least three novels in the series. Born in Augusta, Maine, he lives with his wife and three daughters at Northfield Mount Hermon School in western Massachusetts, where he is English department chair, a teacher, a hockey coach, and may very well be the only mystery writer in North America who also serves as a dorm parent to 50 teenage girls. A Mainer through and through, he tries to get to Old Orchard Beach, Maine, as often as possible. You can see what he's up to by visiting www.amazon.com/author/DAKeeley or dakeeleyauthor.blogspot.com or on Twitter (@DAKeeleyAuthor).

Donis Casey

Donis is the author of six Alafair Tucker Mysteries. Her award-winning series, featuring the sleuthing mother of ten children, is set in Oklahoma during the booming 1910s. Donis is a former teacher, academic librarian, and entrepreneur. She lives in Tempe, AZ, with her husband, poet Donald Koozer. The latest Alafair Tucker novel, The Wrong Hill to Die On (Poisoned Pen Press, 2012), is available in paper or electronic format wherever books are sold. Readers can enjoy the first chapter of each book on her web site at www.doniscasey.com.

Frankie Bailey

Frankie Y. Bailey is a criminal justice professor who focuses on crime, history, and American culture. Her current project is a book about dress, appearance, and criminal justice. Her mystery series featuring crime historian Lizzie Stuart is set mainly in the South. Her near-future police procedural series featuring Detective Hannah McCabe is set in Albany, New York. Visit Frankie at frankieybailey.com.

Charlotte Hinger

Charlotte Hinger is a novelist and Western Kansas historian. Convinced that mystery writing and historical investigation go hand in hand, she now applies her MA in history to academic articles and her depraved imagination to the Lottie Albright series for Poisoned Pen Press. charlottehinger.com

Vicki Delany/Eva Gates

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers. She is the author of more than 25 books, including the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, the Year Round Christmas cozy series, the Constable Molly Smith books, standalone novels of suspense, the Klondike Gold Rush series, and novellas for adult literacy. As Eva Gates, she is the author of the national bestselling Lighthouse Library cozy series from Penguin. Find Vicki at www.vickidelany.com and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor/

Mario Acevedo

Mario Acevedo is the author of the Felix Gomez detective-vampire series. His short fiction is included in the anthologies, You Don’t Have A Clue: Latino Mystery Stories for Teens and Hit List: The Best of Latino Mystery, and in Modern Drunkard Magazine. Mario lives with a dog in Denver, CO. His website is marioacevedo.com.